1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of adjustable shelf management systems and more specifically relates to an adjustable shelf management system for use with rounded articles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shelving is used extensively for stocking and storing products or merchandise in a variety of stores. Most stores have immovable shelving, which is arranged back-to-back between aisleways. The nature of the fixed shelves makes it difficult to add and remove products. Moreover, such shelves make difficult the rotation of the shelved products, which involves moving the older stock to the front of the shelf and positioning new stock behind the older stock.
Numerous forward feeding devices have been devised to automatically move products forward as they are removed. By moving products forward, the shelves consistently appear to be fully stocked. There are believed to be psychological benefits to such an appearance.
Forward feeding devices can generally be grouped into three categories. The first category includes inclined tracks-relying on gravity to feed the product forward. Gravity feeding works well for some products, but is unpredictable in that some materials slide easier than others due to differences in weights and frictional interfaces between the products and the track. The second category generally uses gravity-driven conveyor belts which can tend to be cumbersome, expensive and complicated due to the need to properly tension and track the conveyor belts.
The third category uses springs to feed the product forward. The springs result in a simple, inexpensive design which will smoothly move products forward. There have been a number of variations on this type of design. Many of these spring-biased devices have the disadvantage that they can only be used for a very limited size of product. In addition, even if designed for variations in size, many of the designs are complicated and difficult to alter.
Most of the previous systems are particularly suited to products having rectangular shapes. Notwithstanding the particular advantages of these systems, there remains a need for a shelving system capable of supporting non-rectangular products.